Among California residents age 13 to 24, injuries cause more deaths than all other causes. After excluding delivery, mental illness (MI) and injury are the leading causes of hospital admission. To develop effective prevention strategies, it is critical to understand the relationship between MI and injury. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between MI, injury morbidity, multiple injury, and injury mortality among adolescents and young adults. METHODS: Hospital discharge and Vital Statistics death files for 1995-1997 were searched to identify all injured California residents age 13-24 who were hospitalized or died. Records were linked to create a "person-level" file. Individuals with any diagnosis of MI or substance abuse (SA) and/or multiple admissions were identified. RESULTS: We identified 104,340 youth injured 1+ times, with 84,553 surviving to admission. A MI diagnosis was found on 12%; SA, 10%; and MI/SA on 6%, or 30% of injured. These high risk cases were much more likely to have multiple discharges and to be multiply injured. Multiple injury cases had a significantly elevated risk of death. Multiply admitted, multiply injured youth with MI and/or SA created a hugely disproportionate burden in terms of hospital days and costs. The multiply injured, multiply admitted tended to cluster in certain communities. CONCLUSIONS: High-risk youth must be identified at the first injury and targeted for intensive mental health and substance abuse treatment. Injury prevention strategies and funding mechanisms are needed to target MI and SA youth. Injury surveillance reports need to alert local jurisdictions when they have high rates of multiply-injured.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: (1) quantify the impact of mental illness and substance abuse on injury morbidity for adolescents and young adults, (2) describe the role of mental illness in multiple injury and injury mortality among adolescents and young adults.
Keywords: Mental Illness, Adolescents
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.